A&E: Behind the Scene

Jun Kaneko, jazz and John Deere

Oct. 25, 2013

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• Jun Kaneko, the Omaha sculptor who made those ceramic “Dangos” at the Riverwalk Hub on Court Avenue, will be back in town to dedicate his colored-glass mural at the pump station across the street. A temporary design in red and blue has held the place over the last few months, but the real deal will be dedicated and illuminated (with special LED lights designed to last more than 20 years) at 5:30 p.m. Monday. The free public ceremony is a joint effort by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, Downtown Neighborhood Association and Historic East Village (but don’t be confused: the site is on the west side of the river).

• Local jazz singer Max Wellman will record the next installment of his Songbook Project in front of a live audience at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Temple for Performing Arts. If you’d like to be part of that audience or get your hands on the recordings — his take on standards from the 1920s to ’60s — visit his website, www.maxwellmanmusic.com.

• Attention, farmers: You may have a sculpture in your barn and not even realize it. A new show at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport explores the work of Walter Haskell Hinton, a marketing artist Deere & Co. hired in the 1930s. At a time when tractors were replacing teams of horses, it was his job to make the machines seem like a part of the family. His images of sunny fields and happy farmers helped make the John Deere Model D an American icon.

The paintings and prints of “Walter Haskell Hinton: Image Maker for Deere” remain on display through Feb. 2. www.figgeartmuseum.org